Verdict with Ted Cruz - COVID Docs Released by Ratcliffe, No Taxes on Tips-Can it Happen plus Obstruction during Confirmation Hearings Week In Review

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.220 Welcome.

00:00:05.960 It is Verdict with Ted Cruz Weekend Review.

00:00:08.760 Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:09.880 And these were the major stories that we chatted about this past week that you may have missed.

00:00:14.520 First up, John Radcliffe being confirmed as a CIA director.

00:00:19.200 Well, he then decided to release COVID info that was readily available

00:00:23.440 when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were in the White House.

00:00:27.680 But they deliberately chose not to share it with the American people.

00:00:31.340 What is that information?

00:00:32.660 I'll explain it to you in just a moment.

00:00:35.200 Also, tips?

00:00:36.920 No tax on them.

00:00:38.140 And no tax on Social Security.

00:00:40.260 Can this idea from Donald Trump actually pass through Congress?

00:00:44.140 Senator Cruz explains the real opportunity here to change things in a big way for seniors.

00:00:49.560 And finally, Democrats moving to obstruct the confirmation hearings as much as they can.

00:00:55.440 And they're trying to get at least one of Trump's nominees to fail.

00:00:59.500 So what is going to happen next?

00:01:01.400 We'll explain that for you.

00:01:02.860 It is the Weekend Review.

00:01:04.280 And it starts right now.

00:01:06.060 I want to move to this other big headline.

00:01:07.880 And that deals with the CIA and releasing new analysis on the COVID origins.

00:01:15.100 It doesn't matter where you read the headline.

00:01:17.400 Whether it's Fox News, Politico, AP, BBC, Wall Street Journal.

00:01:21.760 They're all writing the same article now.

00:01:23.800 And I'll go to Politico.

00:01:24.820 CIA now says COVID-19 is more likely to have originated from a lab leak.

00:01:31.420 Now, the most interesting part about this transparency that we're getting from the CIA director,

00:01:36.840 John Ratcliffe, a friend of both of ours, is the fact that he made it clear,

00:01:40.940 hey, I'm releasing information that they had already come to a conclusion on, Senator,

00:01:46.060 when Biden and Harris were in charge, they just didn't want the American people to know it.

00:01:51.820 So if you think I'm the one giving you this intel, it's not me.

00:01:55.540 This is intel from Biden and Harris that they hid from you.

00:01:59.680 Yeah.

00:01:59.860 So the CIA had already come to this conclusion.

00:02:02.840 And for a number of years, the CIA's public position was it could not conclude with certainty

00:02:10.120 where the pandemic started.

00:02:11.340 And yet, two days after John Ratcliffe was sworn in as the new director of the CIA,

00:02:16.960 they issued a public statement that said, quote,

00:02:19.560 we have low confidence in this judgment and will continue to evaluate any available,

00:02:23.760 credible new intelligence reporting or open source information that could change CIA's assessment.

00:02:30.140 And by the way, low confidence, typically when the intelligence community has a conclusion,

00:02:35.060 that they will report it with low confidence, with moderate confidence or with high confidence.

00:02:39.680 So they're saying that they're not convinced it's absolutely right, but but they think it's correct.

00:02:45.300 But but it's at the lowest confidence level.

00:02:48.760 And they did note CIA continues to assess that both research related and natural origin scenarios of the covid pandemic remain plausible.

00:02:57.880 It is striking, striking, however, that as as you just said a second ago, the CIA had concluded this some time ago.

00:03:07.840 It's just under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

00:03:10.660 They didn't bother to tell the American people.

00:03:13.460 Listen to John Ratcliffe explaining this.

00:03:15.180 Part of what we have to do is we have to restore Americans trust in our own institutions like the intelligence community and law enforcement.

00:03:23.940 And that that includes the CIA.

00:03:26.960 And, you know, one of the things the president stressed, you know, that the purpose of the CIA is is to protect Americans,

00:03:33.360 to keep us safe from foreign threats and foreign adversaries.

00:03:36.260 But we also need to be truthful with Americans.

00:03:39.020 And he has stressed to me and others that, you know, these aren't mutually exclusive missions.

00:03:43.800 We can do both.

00:03:44.860 And so in the case of the CIA, which is the best foreign intelligence service in the world,

00:03:50.600 after five years to not have a public assessment, to be honest with the American people about where the likely source of a of a pandemic that that killed millions around the world,

00:04:02.300 including a million Americans and really impacted all three hundred and forty five million Americans in some way.

00:04:08.760 People lost jobs.

00:04:10.100 They lost houses.

00:04:11.060 They lost their health.

00:04:13.380 They lost their businesses, all of that.

00:04:15.960 And so I had the opportunity on my first day to make public an assessment that actually took place in the Biden administration.

00:04:23.080 So it can't be accused of being political.

00:04:25.200 And it and it and it does assess the CIA has assessed that the most likely cause of this pandemic that has wrought so much devastation around the world was because of a lab related incident in Wuhan.

00:04:37.880 And so we'll continue to investigate that moving forward.

00:04:41.620 But I think it was important for the American people to see an institution like the CIA get off the sidelines and and be truthful about what our intelligence shows at the same time of protecting us from adversaries like China if they caused or contributed to this.

00:04:57.620 I mean, Senator, wow.

00:04:58.980 What else can you say?

00:05:00.120 This is all intel that we already had that they hid and lied to the American people about.

00:05:06.420 Well, listen, and I know John Ratcliffe.

00:05:08.420 Well, he's a good friend of mine.

00:05:09.760 He is someone I sat and spent about an hour talking with him a week ago before his confirmation.

00:05:15.540 And I'll tell you, one of the things I urge John to do is bring maximum transparency that's possible.

00:05:22.700 Look, the nature of the CIA, you can't be transparent in everything.

00:05:26.100 Obviously, we don't want the public to know the identity of covert agents or, you know, secret wiretaps or things that would jeopardize national security.

00:05:34.780 But the consequences of the politicization and weaponization of both law enforcement and the intelligence community is that the public's trust in those institutions has been severely diminished.

00:05:48.300 That's what John was talking about in that clip you just played.

00:05:51.400 And so I urged him, by the way, it's the same thing I've urged Pam Bondi, who's been nominated to be attorney general.

00:05:56.420 It's the same thing I've urged Kash Patel, who's been nominated to be FBI director, is have the maximum transparency possible.

00:06:04.340 And in particular, I've urged them with respect to covid and the origins of covid.

00:06:09.240 And by the way, any U.S. government complicity in terms of funding the Chinese research and the gain of function research that may have created the covid virus,

00:06:18.620 that we need maximum transparency concerning that in particular.

00:06:22.260 And I think John Ratcliffe is following through with that.

00:06:24.540 I've also urged maximum transparency concerning January 6th and and any U.S. government informants who may have been involved,

00:06:33.400 who may have enticed or entrapped people into conduct on that day to make that public as well.

00:06:38.720 And I'm hopeful. And by the way, I'll mention Trump is also releasing the files on JFK and RFK and Martin Luther King's assassinations.

00:06:49.300 I will note, Ben, when Trump said he was releasing the JFK files, I know you're going with this, I did at least tweet just wondering,

00:06:59.080 what are the non extradition countries again? I'm asking for a friend.

00:07:04.000 All right. You can't say that without telling the back story on this one. Right.

00:07:07.720 Can you remind people the humor here on this?

00:07:10.740 Sure. During 2016, Trump accused my father of killing JFK, which, for the record, no, my dad did not kill JFK.

00:07:19.840 He did kill Jimmy Hoffa. Jimmy Hoffa's buried my dad's backyard, but he didn't kill JFK.

00:07:25.360 And so it's it's it's it's it's a thing.

00:07:29.700 And so if he's releasing the JFK files, I got to tell you, I'm buying a plane ticket for my dad to go to Bolivia right now.

00:07:38.440 So between that and the Zodiac killer, you just making headlines, my friend.

00:07:42.660 And it is amazing. So, Ben, there is actually a real poll that I have seen that show this was a few years ago,

00:07:49.360 that 28 percent of Floridians believe I may well be the Zodiac killer, which is that's what I would frame and put on my desk.

00:08:00.180 It really is. And given that the Zodiac killer killed a number of people in northern California in the 1960s,

00:08:05.860 before I was born, that's an amazing talent to be able to murder in utero, to reach like back in time.

00:08:14.040 That that's that that that's just, you know, I'm kind of proud of that.

00:08:18.160 I mean, if liberals need another reason to be afraid of you, just know that Senator Cruz can time travel per per Internet reports.

00:08:25.120 So as the meme says, F.A.F.O.

00:08:27.620 I love it. All right. Let's talk about the last thing on our list.

00:08:31.900 And it is one. Were you right in your prediction? When did you get home?

00:08:37.420 We if you listen to our last show, we were talking about our Democrats going to hold out through the weekend.

00:08:42.380 Are you going to have to stay in D.C. all weekend? Are you going to get to come home?

00:08:45.940 They were holding up the nominations yet again. So tell us how that went down.

00:08:50.680 When did you get back? Were you right?

00:08:52.360 So I was right. I said I thought we'd get back Saturday.

00:08:56.380 I thought the Democrats would fight tooth and nail to try to beat Pete Hegseth.

00:09:00.420 I said they'd lose. And I said when they lost, they'd give in and they want to get out of town because they want to get home just like we do.

00:09:07.260 So that's exactly what happened. So we were there. We were there late Friday night.

00:09:12.640 And and then we ended up finishing the vote Saturday morning and we all flew out Saturday afternoon.

00:09:17.520 So so I'm you and I are recording. It is twelve eleven in the morning right now, Sunday night, Monday morning.

00:09:23.900 I'm in Houston and tomorrow morning I'll fly back to D.C. to go back to the Senate tomorrow.

00:09:29.080 So we did get out. And where are we on the confirmations?

00:09:32.300 So right now, four cabinet members have been confirmed.

00:09:35.740 The first to be confirmed was Marco Rubio, a secretary of state.

00:09:38.980 He was confirmed on January 20th. The vote was ninety nine to nothing.

00:09:44.420 The second to be confirmed was the guy that you just played that clip from, John Ratcliffe, a director.

00:09:50.660 The vote was seventy two to twenty six. So big bipartisan vote.

00:09:55.860 And and it's striking, though, that that that the Democrats delayed that several days, even though there was clear bipartisan support for him.

00:10:04.440 Ratcliffe should have been confirmed on January 20th.

00:10:06.760 Also, in fact, we thought he was going to.

00:10:09.260 And the Democrats delayed it several days just because they're engaged in obstruction.

00:10:12.760 They're trying to delay everything.

00:10:14.780 And we're way behind schedule compared to other administrations.

00:10:18.060 Just so people understand that way behind is strong, but they're dragging their feet.

00:10:21.940 And that's why that that's why we ran through force them to stay through the weekend.

00:10:26.740 Kept the kept them late Friday night, kept them there Saturday to make clear.

00:10:30.260 Listen, if you delay, we'll just motor through.

00:10:32.600 And so you can decide, do you want it to be unpleasant or do you want to move forward?

00:10:36.640 We're going to move expeditiously and confirm these nominees.

00:10:39.140 The Democrats, if they want, they can abuse the procedural rules.

00:10:42.680 They can drag things out.

00:10:43.780 But that means they're going to be there on Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays and they're not going home.

00:10:48.100 And that's the most effective way to get them to get give it came in, which is what they did.

00:10:52.740 And so Friday night, the third cabinet member was confirmed.

00:10:56.540 That was Pete Hegseth.

00:10:57.440 And then on Saturday, we confirmed the fourth cabinet member, which is Kristi Noem for Secretary of Homeland Security.

00:11:04.080 She was confirmed 59-34.

00:11:06.500 So a respectable bipartisan vote, not overwhelming, but she got got six Democrats. 1.00

00:11:12.420 And next week, we have teed up Scott Besant for Secretary of Treasury, Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation, Chris Wright for Secretary of Energy, and Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior.

00:11:25.820 All of them are out of committee.

00:11:27.120 All of them are teed up.

00:11:28.460 I think all four of them will be confirmed next week.

00:11:31.020 We may have some others confirmed next week as well.

00:11:33.320 But we're moving expeditiously.

00:11:35.380 And as I said, my prediction is that we will confirm all of Trump's cabinet nominees within 30 days.

00:11:41.120 We also have next week in judiciary, we will vote Pam Bondi out of committee. 0.99

00:11:46.360 And we'll have the hearing on Kash Patel.

00:11:48.460 And by the way, one of the things I did last week is participated in a moot preparation with Kash Patel, which was very productive.

00:11:56.080 Kash, I think, is going to do a good job.

00:11:57.800 The Democrats are going to go hard after Kash Patel.

00:12:00.460 They're going to go hard after Tulsi Gabbard.

00:12:02.620 Those are their top two targets.

00:12:04.380 Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

00:12:11.400 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:12:13.740 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:12:17.860 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:12:21.560 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:12:22.760 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:12:24.000 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:12:27.760 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers.

00:12:31.320 All at different stages of their journey.

00:12:33.500 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:12:36.480 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:12:41.120 Now on to story number two.

00:12:45.120 All right.

00:12:45.480 So taxes, tips.

00:12:47.520 It was clearly a big campaign issue.

00:12:49.560 It brought in a lot of voters.

00:12:51.340 A lot of people came to Donald Trump and said this could have a huge impact.

00:12:54.960 Now it's paying off on it.

00:12:56.680 Is there a real chance?

00:12:59.360 So yes.

00:13:00.320 And I believe this will happen.

00:13:01.600 This will happen by the end of the year.

00:13:03.780 So let's rewind.

00:13:05.320 In the middle of the presidential campaign, Donald Trump was in Las Vegas, Nevada.

00:13:10.460 And he actually told us a story.

00:13:12.300 So he came by in the middle of the campaign.

00:13:14.160 He had lunch with all the Republican senators.

00:13:16.200 And he said, listen, I was in Vegas.

00:13:17.820 I had a rally that night.

00:13:19.380 And he said, I was having lunch.

00:13:20.500 And he said, there was a waitress who came.

00:13:23.060 It was, you know, serving me my meal.

00:13:25.580 And he said, she began like complaining about the enormous burden that the Biden administration

00:13:31.920 had put on recording her tips on paying taxes on tips.

00:13:35.400 And he said, I pulled out a piece of paper and I got out a pen and I just wrote no taxes

00:13:42.140 on tips.

00:13:43.840 They said, it's just an idea that popped in my head.

00:13:46.100 And he said, look, some people, they focus group things.

00:13:49.840 They do white papers.

00:13:50.740 He said, I didn't do any of that.

00:13:52.240 I just wrote it down from the conversation I had with the waitress over lunch.

00:13:56.720 And he said, I had that rally later in the day and I had thousands of people there.

00:14:00.740 And he said, I just threw it out there.

00:14:03.200 No taxes on tips.

00:14:04.740 And he said, and they went crazy.

00:14:07.100 They went absolutely crazy.

00:14:10.580 And I got to say, there are times when Trump, I just think, has an instinct that is a very

00:14:16.980 good gut instinct.

00:14:20.000 And I think this policy makes enormous sense.

00:14:23.060 And so when he announced it, he's right.

00:14:25.860 The crowd went crazy.

00:14:26.960 I looked at it and I said, this is a great idea.

00:14:30.600 I immediately went to my team and I said, let's draft the legislation.

00:14:34.740 To make this happen.

00:14:35.780 So the next week I filed federal legislation of no taxes on tips.

00:14:40.780 Now, what's interesting, Ben, is when I filed this, it immediately became bipartisan.

00:14:46.640 Both senators from Nevada, Jackie Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, both of them immediately co-sponsored

00:14:55.460 it.

00:14:55.640 One of them said to me, she said, look, in Nevada, 25% of the employees in the entire state

00:15:03.720 are tipped workers.

00:15:04.680 And so it was bipartisan.

00:15:07.400 And then shortly thereafter, Kamala Harris endorsed it.

00:15:10.580 And she said, this is a great idea.

00:15:12.100 So it became, there was enormous bipartisan support.

00:15:15.800 Now, obviously, Trump has won.

00:15:18.240 We have a Republican Senate, Republican House.

00:15:20.480 I've refiled my legislation.

00:15:22.820 Here's what I'm pressing to happen.

00:15:24.300 So Trump just was back in Nevada, in Las Vegas, just made a huge push to pass this.

00:15:31.160 I am pressing for Congress to pass the legislation right now.

00:15:36.400 It doesn't have to be part of budget reconciliation.

00:15:41.340 Now, for any tax bill under the Constitution, the House of Representatives has to originate it.

00:15:48.220 So if that's a provision of the Constitution, the Senate cannot start a tax bill.

00:15:53.760 A tax bill has to originate with the House.

00:15:56.840 So I am urging the Speaker of the House, I'm urging the Majority Leader, take up my legislation.

00:16:03.100 No taxes on tips.

00:16:04.640 Just pass it.

00:16:05.940 We have the votes in the House.

00:16:08.160 Republicans can pass it.

00:16:09.900 If it passes and goes over to the Senate, I believe we can pass it in the Senate.

00:16:15.560 And I think we'll get 60 votes.

00:16:16.860 So we don't have to wait for reconciliation.

00:16:19.380 Reconciliation is the process that gets around the filibuster, lets us pass something with just 50 votes.

00:16:26.920 I don't think we need that for no taxes on tips.

00:16:30.540 If the House passes it, what I'm urging John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, is put it on the Senate floor.

00:16:36.760 I think we'll get 60 votes.

00:16:38.460 And that means we could pass it.

00:16:39.920 It would be a big bipartisan win.

00:16:43.640 And we'll put it on President Trump's desk.

00:16:46.960 He can sign it into law as a huge victory.

00:16:50.020 And by the way, it's a win-win, Ben.

00:16:51.560 If we put it on the floor and Democrats decide to be partisan, they decide, OK, we're going to oppose it because we just oppose any tax cut.

00:17:01.500 We oppose anything Trump wants.

00:17:03.540 OK, that's not the end of the day.

00:17:05.220 If Democrats defeat it in the Senate because we can't get to 60, that's fine.

00:17:10.520 Then we'll stick it in budget reconciliation.

00:17:12.760 We can get it done with 50.

00:17:14.400 But it's a win-win because every Democrat senator who votes no, that is an ugly issue in two years to go face the voters and say, hey, I voted against no taxes on tips.

00:17:26.740 Even though every waiter, every waitress, every bartender, every taxi driver, every Uber driver, every barber, every hairstylist, every nail salon person, everyone who is relying on tips cares a lot about this.

00:17:43.540 So if the Democrats all want to vote against it, look, I think this policy is an incredible embodiment of the most important political transformation of the last decade, which is that Republicans have become a blue-collar party.

00:18:00.380 We are the party of waiters and waitresses and working men and women.

00:18:04.700 And so Democrats can decide where they stand, but I think we ought to get this passed.

00:18:08.980 And one way or another, my prediction is this will get done before the end of 2025.

00:18:15.740 Is this one of those issues where people should call their congressmen, their senators?

00:18:19.900 I mean, we talk about this a lot.

00:18:21.220 Yes, yes, yes.

00:18:21.880 I mean, yes.

00:18:22.520 And what do you say?

00:18:23.920 This is good for my state.

00:18:25.520 This is good for my city.

00:18:26.680 This is good for hourly workers.

00:18:28.160 Just do it.

00:18:28.680 What is the best argument?

00:18:29.340 Just pass no taxes on tips.

00:18:32.660 So, look, one of the things to understand when you call your congressman, when you call your senator,

00:18:37.620 if you make a detailed, subtle argument, that doesn't get through.

00:18:45.320 So, every member of Congress gets what I get every day, which is I get an email.

00:18:50.360 So, all right, let me find my email from today.

00:18:53.180 Call totals.

00:18:54.280 So, 12825.

00:18:56.540 Today, there were 1,372 calls to my office.

00:19:01.300 There were 754 to D.C.

00:19:03.760 There were 618 to Texas.

00:19:05.560 There were 482 live calls.

00:19:09.340 So, we had interns and staff assistants who answered 482 calls today.

00:19:13.960 There were 890 calls that went to voicemails.

00:19:17.420 Of those calls, 1,322 Texans called.

00:19:22.600 50 non-Texans called.

00:19:24.200 So, overwhelmingly, the calls were Texans.

00:19:28.220 So, let's break it down.

00:19:30.200 Casework.

00:19:30.680 So, that's, I've got an issue with Social Security.

00:19:33.100 I've got an issue with the VA.

00:19:34.180 I've got an issue with the government.

00:19:36.160 45 of those calls were casework.

00:19:37.980 And I've got a whole team that works to help Texans deal with the government every day.

00:19:43.040 24 dealt with the academy.

00:19:44.800 So, young men and women, high school students that want to go to service academy.

00:19:49.140 So, 24 of them.

00:19:50.660 8 concerned the campaign.

00:19:52.200 I don't know what they concerned.

00:19:53.760 91 concerned scheduling.

00:19:55.680 So, people calling saying, hey, can you come do this event or this other event?

00:20:01.040 Now, of the breakdown, 18 called in support of me.

00:20:07.360 28 called in opposition to me.

00:20:09.480 So, people called and said, I can't stand Cruz. 0.96

00:20:11.840 He's terrible.

00:20:12.500 Okay.

00:20:12.840 That gets recorded.

00:20:14.980 10 people called in support of President Trump.

00:20:18.180 79 people called in opposition to President Trump.

00:20:22.380 Now, nominations.

00:20:24.480 75 people called in support of President Trump's nominees.

00:20:29.880 70 people called in opposition to President Trump's nominees.

00:20:34.200 Now, it's interesting.

00:20:35.060 RFK Jr. got a bunch of calls.

00:20:36.800 187 people, this is yesterday, called in support of RFK Jr. for HHS secretary.

00:20:44.660 93 people called in opposition to RFK Jr.

00:20:48.960 So, about two to one, Bobby Kennedy, the calls were coming in.

00:20:53.180 19 people called in support of Kash Patel for FBI director.

00:20:58.600 432 people called in opposition to Kash Patel as FBI director.

00:21:05.460 And I think there probably were some liberal groups stirring up calls because that number is big enough, 432.

00:21:11.240 I was going to say, when you see days like that, you've got to be thinking somebody went on an email campaign or a call blitz campaign and said, target this member today specifically.

00:21:21.740 Because if it doesn't match the day before or the day after, that's kind of the tell, right?

00:21:25.740 And that happens.

00:21:26.840 There are groups that will focus and say, make these calls.

00:21:29.340 And I think those calls, the 432, that's a big enough number.

00:21:32.400 That's where that probably came from.

00:21:34.400 Now, in addition, 48 people called in support of Tulsi Gabbard.

00:21:40.680 22 people called in opposition to Tulsi Gabbard.

00:21:45.040 On legislative issues, 13 people called in support of border security.

00:21:49.960 Two people called in opposition to border security.

00:21:52.700 And interestingly enough, 474 people called in opposition to the OMB pause of federally appropriated funds.

00:22:03.680 So, look, that's the sort of report.

00:22:06.500 I get that report every day and I read it every day.

00:22:08.840 Now, look, we get over the course of the year hundreds of thousands of calls.

00:22:15.440 So I can't listen to every voicemail that comes in.

00:22:18.240 I could literally spend all day long doing nothing but listening to voicemails and not do any hearings, not do any legislation, and I still wouldn't have enough time.

00:22:26.800 So the way I consume that data is through a report like that.

00:22:30.340 I just read you the report that came today.

00:22:33.700 Every other member consumes it the same way.

00:22:35.740 What I'm saying is, if you want Congress to pass no taxes on tips, you don't need to present a long, detailed, subtle argument as to all of the pros and cons.

00:22:48.640 Just pick up the phone and call your member and say, pass no taxes on tips.

00:22:54.420 If you say that sentence, it will get recorded in a report just like that to the House member or the senator you're calling.

00:23:02.120 Like, that's how the information gets consumed.

00:23:05.700 That's encouraging, by the way.

00:23:07.040 You said everybody looks at their call list like the same way you do.

00:23:10.040 I hope so.

00:23:10.940 I don't know that.

00:23:12.320 There may be some people that don't give a damn.

00:23:14.200 I look at it every day.

00:23:15.480 I can't promise that all 535 members of Congress do, but I certainly look at it every day because I work for 31 million Texans.

00:23:23.460 And so I want to see what issues people are engaged on and what they care about.

00:23:28.720 As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from early this week to hear the entire thing.

00:23:38.100 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them. 0.98

00:23:44.260 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:23:47.560 I want to get back to the big story, number three of the week you may have missed.

00:24:13.980 That obviously means the pace is moving up.

00:24:16.560 When you look at so far what's happened, there does seem to be a little bit of a change now.

00:24:22.480 We're noticing it with the Democrats and the media especially.

00:24:26.380 It seems like there's a real appetite to just get a nominee, whatever one they can get their hands on, to not pass.

00:24:36.800 Is that part of the gamesmanship that we're witnessing?

00:24:39.440 Am I reading the room the right way?

00:24:40.720 Yeah, look, I still believe, and I've said this a number of times, that all of Trump's cabinet nominees are going to be confirmed.

00:24:48.280 And I think they'll be confirmed within 30 days, that we are leaning in.

00:24:51.680 We're putting the pedal to the metal.

00:24:53.540 Under the Senate rules, the Democrats can delay some.

00:24:57.660 But I think within 30 days, we'll get them all through.

00:24:59.740 Now, the three that they're going after hardest are in terms of cabinet nominees, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, Bobby Kennedy for Health and Human Services.

00:25:15.200 And then it's not a cabinet position, but Kash Patel for Director of the FBI, which is a sub-cabinet position, but a very, very important law enforcement position.

00:25:25.720 Those are the three.

00:25:27.040 It's not complicated or subtle.

00:25:28.940 Those three are the top targets of the Democrats.

00:25:32.340 Today in the Senate Judiciary Committee, we had Kash Patel's hearing.

00:25:37.060 I was vigorous at the hearing defending him.

00:25:40.460 I will tell you, I think Kash did very well.

00:25:44.260 I think he acquitted himself in an excellent way.

00:25:47.200 This evening, I was on Sean Hannity.

00:25:49.020 And as I put it, I said, my assessment of the Democrats' behavior at Kash Patel's hearing reminded me of the quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth. 1.00

00:25:58.140 It was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing. 1.00

00:26:03.400 That is a great, accurate way of describing. 1.00

00:26:06.440 It was a you-know-what show is how I was going to put it.

00:26:09.200 But they didn't land any material blows.

00:26:11.460 And look, the point on Kash, what they're attacking him on, not that he's not qualified.

00:26:17.140 He's clearly qualified.

00:26:18.220 He has over a decade of experience in law enforcement and national security, including having been a federal public defender, including having been a federal prosecutor, having worked in the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, having worked in the White House and the National Security Council, having been a senior intelligence staffer on Capitol Hill, and having been the chief of staff at the United States Defense Department.

00:26:41.460 They're not arguing he's unqualified.

00:26:45.640 What they're arguing is they're terrified he will do exactly what President Trump promised he would do, which is eliminate the politicization and weaponization of the FBI and get it back to its core function.

00:26:57.720 I believe Kash Patel will do that.

00:26:59.420 And I think the Democrats are freaking out because they don't want him to do that.

00:27:02.100 But I think Kash will make it through.

00:27:04.360 We also had hearings this week for both Bobby Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard.

00:27:08.360 I don't know.

00:27:09.680 It is not impossible that that one of those nominees is defeated.

00:27:15.800 But I think they all make it through right now.

00:27:18.180 When you look at the Republicans, when Democrats are pushing this obstructionism the way that they they're doing it and trying to slow things down, does that unify the Republican base more because it's like, all right, come on, guys, does that make it actually easier to get the votes you need because you realize what you're up against?

00:27:36.400 Oh, look, potentially, you had Pete Hegseth, who is the one they went after the hardest so far, and that vote was 50 50.

00:27:47.020 We lost three Republicans.

00:27:48.380 We lost Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitch McConnell because we have a 53 47 majority losing three made it 50 50.

00:27:57.120 And that meant the vice president, J.D. Vance, could break the tie.

00:28:00.720 I am glad we have 53.

00:28:02.240 If we had a 51 vote majority, I would not be nearly so sanguine.

00:28:06.260 And I would not be saying every Trump cabinet nominee is going to be confirmed if we had a 51 vote majority.

00:28:11.400 But because we have 53, we can lose up to three.

00:28:16.260 And so I think all of these make it through.

00:28:19.040 Listen, Tulsi, Tulsi was a Democrat for most of her career. 0.72

00:28:23.880 She is perceived.

00:28:24.860 If you look at Republican foreign policy, they're interventionist and isolationist.

00:28:30.060 There are many who perceive Tulsi as much more of an isolationist.

00:28:33.520 So there are Republicans who have real concerns with her.

00:28:37.720 Will that play out in a no vote?

00:28:40.100 I don't know.

00:28:40.720 I think the president deserves a considerable amount of deference in in naming his cabinet members.

00:28:46.180 And he has decided to name Tulsi Gabbard.

00:28:48.200 I'm going to vote yes.

00:28:49.600 But I don't know.

00:28:51.280 It's not impossible that we get four no votes, which would take down the nomination.

00:28:57.260 Likewise, Bobby Kennedy.

00:28:58.500 Bobby Kennedy is a complicated situation.

00:29:00.660 Both Kennedy and Tulsi until like 12 minutes ago, they were both Democrats.

00:29:05.580 Yeah.

00:29:05.720 And so Bobby Kennedy, obviously a scion of one of the great Democrat royalty families, Camelot.

00:29:15.300 It is a curious dynamic.

00:29:17.180 It's not clear to me any Democrat is going to vote for him, which is which is an interesting situation.

00:29:23.840 Listen, there are some conservatives.

00:29:25.240 Bobby Kennedy until recently on many policies is his views were were quite left of center.

00:29:34.420 I'm going to vote for Bobby Kennedy because I think he's a change agent, because I think he has courage to take on.

00:29:40.300 I think some of the corruption that we have at HHS, particularly with big pharma that gets in bed with with with the career bureaucrats there and stifles competition and drives up costs.

00:29:50.280 I think if you have a terrible disease, you should have a right to access life saving medication.

00:29:59.820 And I'm one of the original sponsors of the right to try legislation.

00:30:03.420 I think that's very important.

00:30:05.320 And I think Bobby Kennedy is going to shake up the the cronyism that that that that has characterized HHS.

00:30:14.700 What's what's not clear to me is I don't if any Democrats want that cronyism shaken up.

00:30:22.300 And to be honest, there may be some Republicans who don't let's play this exchange.

00:30:27.320 So this is Bobby Kennedy responding to Bernie Sanders.

00:30:31.120 Bernie's going to vote now when Bernie was attacking him like crazy.

00:30:33.780 But I got to say, Bobby Kennedy popped him back pretty hard.

00:30:37.160 Listen to this exchange.

00:30:39.180 I'm going to make America healthier than other countries in the world right now.

00:30:43.660 Will you guarantee do what every other major country does?

00:30:47.380 It's a simple question.

00:30:48.220 And by the way, Bernie, the you know, the problem of corruption is not just in the federal agencies.

00:30:55.640 It's in Congress, too.

00:30:57.740 Almost all the members of this panel are accepting, including yourself, are accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry.

00:31:04.740 Oh, no, no, no, no.

00:31:05.900 And protecting their interests.

00:31:07.640 Oh, I thought that that would come.

00:31:10.100 No, no, no, no.

00:31:11.260 I ran for president like you.

00:31:12.780 I got millions and millions of contributions.

00:31:17.240 They did not come from the executives, not one nickel of PAC money from the pharmaceutical industry.

00:31:22.900 They came from workers. 1.00

00:31:23.720 In 2020, you were the single largest receiver of pharmaceutical money.

00:31:30.900 From workers all over this country.

00:31:34.380 Workers.

00:31:34.700 You were the single.

00:31:35.460 Not a nickel from corporate.

00:31:37.700 Bernie, you were the single largest acceptor of pharmaceutical dollars.

00:31:41.540 No, from workers in the industry.

00:31:43.520 1.5 million.

00:31:44.880 Yeah.

00:31:45.160 Out of 200 million.

00:31:47.060 All right.

00:31:47.500 But you have not answered.

00:31:50.420 Last question.

00:31:50.940 I mean, you want to talk about a beat down with the facts there.

00:31:55.500 Bernie, you've accepted millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry in 2020.

00:31:59.540 You were the single largest receiver of pharmaceutical dollars.

00:32:02.980 1.5 million.

00:32:04.340 He's like, well, let's just move on here.

00:32:07.200 Yeah.

00:32:07.720 He did not like that exchange.

00:32:09.220 By the way, I've never seen a confirmation hearing where the nominee refers to the senator

00:32:13.680 by his first name.

00:32:14.580 He keeps calling him Bernie.

00:32:15.720 Like, it's clear Bobby Kennedy and Bernie Sanders, they know each other well.

00:32:19.600 I mean, they've got a long history there because that's quite unusual, too.

00:32:25.680 But I've got to say, Bernie was not anticipating that pop back.

00:32:30.620 We'll see how it plays out.

00:32:32.180 But I think Kennedy is going to get confirmed.

00:32:33.860 I want him to get confirmed.

00:32:34.920 I like Bobby Kennedy.

00:32:36.900 And I also think there are a lot of Americans, a lot of Americans who are not even very political,

00:32:42.320 a lot of moms who are worried about the garbage that their kids are consuming, are worried 1.00

00:32:48.400 about the rise in chronic illness, that I think Bobby Kennedy is a very good person to

00:32:56.320 take that on.

00:32:56.860 As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:33:02.640 Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day.

00:33:06.300 You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards.

00:33:09.660 I'd love to have you as a listener to, again, the Ben Ferguson podcast.

00:33:13.180 And we will see you back here on Monday morning.

00:33:17.180 This is an iHeart podcast.

00:33:19.760 Guaranteed human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 01, 2025

COVID Docs Released by Ratcliffe, No Taxes on Tips-Can it Happen plus Obstruction during Confirmation Hearings Week In Review

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